The 2012 NFL regular season has been brought to a close. After 17 weeks of collisions, big plays, record breakers and breakout rookies, we have now gotten down to the finest 12 teams.

Last years champs, the New York Giants, fell short, playing terrible football late in the season (9-7) and did not make their usual push at the end to back into it this year.

Now comes the 2nd season, the season that everyone is banking on, the one that brings dreams crashing and dreams soaring. I am going to take look at the playoff teams, in each conference.

Firstly, the AFC

The Denver Broncos 13-3; The Broncos made the big move in the offseason grabbing Peyton Manning. Where many teams wooed him, he chose Mile high to play, and has immediately brought new life to the Broncos, who have serious thoughts about winning the trophy this year.

New England Patriots 12-4; Tom Brady still plugging along after an early season slouch, starting 1-2, they have bounced back to lead the league in scoring with 35/game. Still, and forever, a serious threat.

The Houston Texans 12-4; Finally the Texans make the move to become one of the big boys in the NFL, but have come up small vs the tough opponents, their 4 losses come to all playoff teams, and losing by an average of 19 in those 4 losses, even with Arian Foster, and Andre Johnson, this team concerns me slightly.

The Baltimore Ravens 10-6; Production value of Ray Rice always comes into play on this team. Is Joe Flacco truly the man that can lead them to the promised land? If they play at home, he’s amazing; on the road he’s awful. 2 completely different QBs play for this team.

The Indianapolis Colts 11-5; simply put, what the Colts have done this year was incredible. Choosing to go in the direction of rookie Andrew Luck as their starter, releasing Peyton Manning, HC Chuck Pagano with his awful illness, winners of 2 games last year, to come back with 11 this year.

The Cincinnati Bengals 10-6; No longer the up and comers, a legit contender in the AFC North now. AJ Green is a top 10 WR in the league currently, adding “the law firm” to the backfield was brilliant (1094 YDs and 6 TDs), just need Andy Dalton to bring his game up a notch for a legitimate run.

Tops in each position heading into the AFC playoffs?

QB; Peyton Manning, after his comeback, without question to me, exceptional season of 37 TDs and 4659 YDs, he makes every player better.

RB; Arian Foster, 15 TDs on the season, including scoring a TD in 11/16 games of 2012, Foster is the go-to back under any and all circumstances for Houston.

WR; Denver, I like the combination of speed demon Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, good for about 160 YDs each game between them. And even, the old vet, Brandon Stokely still can throw in as well.

Defense; Denver, 18.1 ppg, 52 sacks, 16 picks, 19 forced fumbles, led by Von Miller, a star for the next 10+ seasons.

Coaching; The Colts, frankly put, with what they dealt with this season, with their HC Chuck Pagano, and filled in with Bruce Arians on the sideline, says a lot for the organization on a whole.

The NFC

The Atlanta Falcons 13-3, The Falcons are certainly a team to watch without question. This year is very big for them, to prove they belong in the conversation of the best teams in the NFL for them; this whole team needs to establish something.

The San Francisco 49ers 11-4-1, The Niners return to the playoffs, again. Led by an oppressive defense, and a new QB in Colin Kaepernick, that gives the team a diverse look than it had with Alex Smith.

The Green Bay Packers 11-5, The Packers have been tough as always, scoring the ball exceptionally is always, is their best strength, but have a tendency to give up big rushing games, would concern me quite a bit.

The Washington Redskins 10-6, Fought hard to get in this season, almost blowing it going 3-6 in the first half of the season, but with a 7 game winning streak in the middle to end of the season, they won when it mattered, now they come in excited and ready to explode .

The Seattle Seahawks 11-5, The Hawks team is clearly better than last year, and even their defense has improved. Adding rookie QB, Russell Wilson (3118 YDs, 26 TDs) to the mix, means more points on the board, which they will need to go against the best of the best.

The Minnesota Vikings 10-6, The Vikes 1st playoff appearance since 2009, when Brett Favre was leading the team. QB Christian Ponder has improved on the season, showing sparks of being proficient, then games where he reverts. The man though is still Adrian Peterson, with 7 games of 150 or more yards rushing, including 2 of 200+. Astounding.

QB; Aaron Rodgers, this is a real hard one, between him and Matty Ice, but I am going with the experienced one, who doesn’t have the past of crumbling under pressure.

RB; Adrian Peterson, 2097 yards, 10 games over 100 yards, 131/game average and adding 12 TD, by the way, coming back after tearing up his knee.

WR; Atlanta. Julio Jones, Roddy White, & TE Tony Gonzalez had 3479 yards between them, and 25 TDs. When they line up on offense, every team is concerned.

Defense; Seattle, 15.3 ppg, 36 sacks, led by Chris Clemons and his 11.5. A ball hawking secondary that had 18 picks, and a + 13 turnover ratio, allowing a season high 28 pts, only once.

Coaching; Pete Carroll, although filled with young talent, which can be both good and bad. Led a team that was 7-9 last year to 11 wins and a team no one really wants to play in the playoffs

Written by Mike Anthony of VegasTopDogs.com